Zoekresultaten

Learning with Interactive Knowledge Representations

Computers are promising tools for providing educational experiences that meet individual learning needs. However, delivering this promise in practice is challenging, particularly when automated feedback is essential and the learning extends beyond using traditional methods such as writing and solving mathematics problems. We hypothesize that interactive knowledge representations can be deployed to address this challenge. Knowledge representations differ markedly from concept maps. Where the latter uses nodes (concepts) and arcs (links between concepts), a knowledge representation is based on an ontology that facilitates automated reasoning. By adjusting this reasoning towards interacting with learners for the benefit of learning, a new class of educational instruments emerges. In this contribution, we present three projects that use an interactive knowledge representation as their foundation. DynaLearn supports learners in acquiring system thinking skills. Minds-On helps learners to deepen their understanding of phenomena while performing experiments. Interactive Concept Cartoons engage learners in a science-based discussion about controversial topics. Each of these approaches has been developed iteratively in collaboration with teachers and tested in real classrooms, resulting in a suite of lessons available online. Evaluation studies involving pre-/post-tests and action-log data show that learners are easily capable of working with these educational instruments and that the instruments thus enable a semi-automated approach to constructive learning.

Is our youth cycling to health?: Results from the Dutch 2016 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

The Netherlands is known globally for its widespread use of bicycles and some call it a “cycling nation”. Indeed, many Dutch inhabitants own a bike and cycle frequently. Numbers show that 84% of the Dutch inhabitants from age 4 years and older own a bike. Those owners have an average of 1.3 bikes per person. This results in 18 million bikes in the Netherlands and 13.5 million bike owners.6 The Dutch use their bike as a means of transportation, but also for sports and exercise. Bike-use fits well in an active lifestyle and it is highly plausible that cycling is responsible for a large part of the daily physical activity in Dutch youth. It is estimated that Dutch people have on average a 6 months longer life expectancy attributable to bicycle use.7 It seems that the nation itself is well shaped to cycle: no large mountains, only a few small hills, and an extensive layout of cycle paths and routes in every city and village. In many urban areas separate cycle paths are very common. Our results show that many Dutch children use the bike as their way of transportation. It was demonstrated that active transportation is responsible for a large part of schoolrelated physical activity in Dutch youth.8 80% of 12-17 year-old children cycled three or more days to or from school/work.9 This resulted in an ‘A’ for the indicator active transportation (walking is included in the grade as well). Active transport is associated with increased total physical activity among youth.10,11 Also evidence is reported for an association between active transport and a healthier body composition and healthier level of cardiorespiratory fitness among youth. Although Dutch children accumulate a lot of daily physical activity through cycling, it is not enough to meet the current national physical activity guidelines of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day. Even though cycling is an important component to the amount of daily physical activity, Dutch youth are not cycling to health

Creating knowledge locations in the city

This book focuses on one particular way to promote the urban knowledge economy: the creation of knowledge ‘hotspots’.

Analysing and visualising the trends in knowledge management

The purpose of this study was to analyse knowledge management research trends to understand the development of the field using a combination of scientometric, bibliometric, and visualisation techniques, subsequently developing a normative framework of knowledge management from the results.282 articles between the years 2010–2015 were retrieved, analysed, and visualised to produce the state of knowledge management during the selected timeframe. The results of this study provide a visualisation of the current research trends to understand the development of the knowledge management discipline. There are signals that the literature about knowledge management is progressing towards academic maturity. This study is one of the first studies to combine bibliometric and scientometric methods to assess productivity along with visualisation, and subsequently provide a knowledge management framework drawing from the results of these methods.

Dutch Cycling Intelligence

A Tale of Two Cities: Understanding Children's Cycling Behavior From the Socio-Ecological Perspective

The childhood obesity epidemic has persisted for over three decades, which has presented serious social, economic and health consequences worldwide. For researchers and policy makers alike, cycling has been a promising focus over recent years for developing long-term physically active lifestyles in urban environments, in addition to contributing to the global quest to combat climate change. Promoting cycling thus presents a win-win situation not just for individuals' well-being, but for multiple involved sectors such as public health, transport ministry and environmental agencies. For children, cycling promotes exercise engagement, active transport opportunities, motor skill development and social interaction. However, across European cities, there are considerable discrepancies in the uptake of cycling amongst children. To understand and subsequently promote children's cycling behavior, it is crucial that the complex social, physical and policy environment, and their interrelationships, are considered. Therefore, in this perspective article, we adopt the socio-ecological model to gain insight into how children's cycling behavior is shaped at the interpersonal, organizational and community level embedded within city policies, relevant to increase future cycling participation in children. Our perspective is based on a review of cycling policies of two European cities, Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Newcastle (UK), where stark contrasts in children's cycling participation can be observed. Our findings show that cycling policies in Amsterdam have mainly contributed to comprehensive organizational level changes, for example, cycling infrastructure development within the city, whereby these initiatives have made significant progress at the community level where cycling has become part of the “Dutch culture”. Hence, cycling is a more common transportation mode among children in Amsterdam than in Newcastle. In Newcastle, policies primarily focus on organizational or community level changes, and progress has recently been accelerated in response to COVID-19. In addition to differences, we have also identified similar challenges in the two cities, such as the urgency to support uptake of cycling for children with low socio-economic background or challenges related to cultural differences. We also propose a “shared (cycle-)path” for policy makers and researchers as working together is crucial in producing multi-component interventions at a policy level that recognize individual, as well as interpersonal, community and organizational factors.